South Africa's electronic travel authorisation now costs R500

South Africa began charging for its Electronic Travel Authorisation on 17 August 2026, when the Department of Home Affairs published the final fee regulations in the Government Gazette. The charge is R500 per ETA application, roughly USD 30, and it took effect on publication. It arrives five days after President Cyril Ramaphosa launched the platform at OR Tambo International Airport on 12 August. Two things changed at once: the ETA stopped being free, and the portal stopped being limited to the four pilot nationalities. Visa-exempt travellers can now apply voluntarily for the faster arrival lane and the online extension, and they pay the same R500.

What the gazette says

The instrument is Government Notice R.7834, published in Government Gazette No. 55209 on 17 August 2026 as the First Amendment of the Regulations on Fees made under the Immigration Act, 2002. It was made by Home Affairs Minister Leon Amos Schreiber under section 7(1)(i) of the Act, after consultation with the Immigration Advisory Board and with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance, and it comes into operation on the date of publication. The notice replaces the fee table in regulation 2 in full. The new line at the top of that table reads "Electronic processing fee (applicable to the ETA)" at R500,00. That wording matters, because the draft gazetted on 27 July had described the same R500 more broadly as an electronic processing fee for visas and permits lodged and processed online. The final text ties it to the ETA.

The rest of the fee table

The same notice restates the visa fees themselves, so the full picture is in one place. A visitor's visa, port of entry visa, transit visa, study visa, treaty visa, medical treatment visa, relative's visa for an immediate family member other than a spouse or minor child, retired person visa and exchange visa are each R425, including applications for renewal. A business visa, work visa, corporate visa and permanent residence permit are each R1 520. Proof of permanent residency is R100, and a certificate to enter or depart at a place other than a port of entry is R425. The R500 electronic processing fee sits alongside these rather than replacing them, so a traveller who needs the ETA and also owes a visitor's visa fee pays R500 plus R425, or R925 in total.

How the system works

An applicant registers a profile at eta.dha.gov.za, verifying a mobile number and email address by one-time PIN, then scans their passport and uploads a selfie. The platform compares the passport photograph to the selfie biometrically and checks the passport itself against more than forty parameters for authenticity. After payment, automated risk analysis runs, and an approved traveller receives the ETA within 24 hours and can store it in a phone wallet. At the border the traveller looks into a camera again, and the upgraded Electronic Movement Control System, which Home Affairs calls EMCS 2.0, confirms the face at the counter matches the face that was authorised. One feature is worth knowing before you travel: someone admitted for up to 90 days can apply through the ETA platform to extend for up to a further 90 days, rather than going through the in-person process an extension used to require.

Who pays, and who does not have to

Chinese, Indian, Indonesian and Mexican travellers arriving at one of the four listed airports pay the R500 as a matter of course. For everyone else the position is now a choice rather than a requirement. Minister Schreiber said the ETA "will progressively become compulsory for short stay visits from countries that require port-of-entry visas to South Africa", while remaining voluntary for visa-exempt travellers who want the faster ETA queue or the online extension. So a German, British, American or Australian visitor is not required to apply and can still enter visa-free for short stays; paying R500 buys the quicker lane and the ability to extend a stay without an in-person appointment. Count it per traveller, not per family. The group to watch is larger again: if you hold a passport that needs a port-of-entry visa for South Africa, your nationality being added to the platform is the point at which the ETA becomes your route in.

What this means in practice

Apply only through eta.dha.gov.za. A newly launched government platform with a newly attached fee is exactly the situation third-party sites exploit, and an intermediary buys you nothing here. Because nationalities are being added in stages rather than on an announced date, check eligibility close to travel rather than months ahead. An ETA does not replace the online traveller declaration, which is still required before departure, so budget for both steps. For anyone planning to move rather than visit, the change worth tracking is the department's stated intention to bring study, spousal and work visas onto the same platform. Our South Africa country guide (/country-guides/south-africa) covers the permit categories behind a longer stay, and the visas and status field guide (/field-guide/visas-status) explains how entry authorisations and residence permits differ.